The Non-Surgical Facelift That Really Works

By: RoyDavid December 08, 2015

Fat grafting or fat transfer to the face has become one of the fastest growing segments of cosmetic procedures in America. Over the past decade the technique and technology has advanced so much that fat transfer to areas such as the lower eyelids and nose has achieved widespread acceptance. Fat grafting to the face can produce lasting, natural results. Dr. Roy David has been performing fat transfer in San Diego for over ten years, with consistently excellent outcomes.

WHY FAT TRANSFER?

As we age, we lose volume in the face. This leads to sagging, deflated skin, and concave sunken areas. Some common areas for fat loss include the cheeks, temples, lower eyelid “hollows,” jawline, lips, smile lines and premaxilla. For years these areas have been treated with synthetic injectable fillers — and continue to be with great success. The problem with these fillers is that they are not lasting (with few exceptions) and must be repeated at intervals leading to occasional swelling and bruising. Furthermore, these facial fillers are not our own natural tissue; we believe that injecting one’s own fat enhances the skin and facial contours by increasing blood supply and overall skin health.

Fat grafting is performed with blunt micro-cannulas. This makes the procedure very safe, as well as artistic and nuanced; the surgeon is able to “sculpt” the face in a natural way by gradually adding volume in diffuse increments. This is a different approach from most synthetic fillers — which are often placed in discrete aliquots.

Fat transfer in our San Diego practice is generally performed with a gentle “twilight” anesthesia in our AAAHC accredited surgical suite. Patients may also choose local anesthesia with oral sedation for this minimally invasive procedure. Following administration of tumescent anesthesia to the fat harvest site, the fat is gently harvested using micro cannulas. The fat is processed to remove impurities, and then carefully injected into the areas of concern. There is minimal to no pain after fat grafting, and a majority of swelling resolves within one week, allowing a return to activities.

San Diego facial plastic surgeon Dr. Roy David is a member of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and specializes in plastic surgery exclusively of the Face, Nose, Eyes, Neck, and Scalp. He has been in practice in San Diego for over ten years, helping thousands of patients to achieve their goals.

FACIAL FAT TRANSFER Standing the Test of Time It’s Not a Fad

By: RoyDavid November 03, 2015

When a new surgical or medical treatment develops, there is often a rush of excitement and wave of enthusiasm among doctors, especially if it is marketed or hyped up in the press. Fat transfer to the face is a procedure that has been championed for close to 20 years, but really took off in the early 2000s.

In the early 2000s, there was still only a poor appreciation of the importance of volume in rejuvenation of the aging face. Facelifts and laser peels were the norm, and injectable fillers like Restylane were just hitting the market. It was during this time that a realization struck plastic surgeons that by using small droplets of fat, they could achieve reliability and precision in fat grafting.

As fat transfer gained in popularity, there was a veritable explosion of injectable (synthetic) fillers in the cosmetic market: Juvederm, Radiesse, Artefill, Sculptra, Perlane, Belotero, Voluma-to name a few. Some began to question the need for a more invasive procedure involving liposuction to harvest the fat, then process and inject it.

Here in my San Diego facial plastic surgery practice, we began using fat during facelift surgery to enhance flat or sunken areas around the eyes, cheeks, temples, jawline, smile lines, and lips. My experience has been that fat transfer virtually always enhances surgical facelift results in the right patients, and today over 75% of my facelift patients opt to add fat transfer to their San Diego facelift surgery.

Initially after injection, the treated fat transfer areas may appear puffy or overly large. Within one week or less, this puffiness subsides, and most patients are extremely pleased with their appearance-even hoping it does not “shrink down” further. Between 2 weeks- 6 months, residual swelling fades, the transplanted fat develops a blood supply, and lasting results become evident. Occasionally, patients cannot pinpoint the contribution of fat transfer to their results if they have had concurrent procedures such as facelift or laser peel. They simply look and feel great! And so at three months, I may show them their before and after pictures and they are delighted to see the sunken hollows of their lower eyes have smoothened out, or that their cheeks have greater lift and definition.

The benefits of fat transfer over injectable fillers are that the results do not go away once they have stabilized, and the appearance is a natural one, without excessive “puffiness” or light reflection that can occur with some fillers. We also believe that by improving the blood supply to the skin and possibly bringing stem cells, fat grafting to the face also improves skin texture and tone.

Dr. David is having a pre-holiday special on fat transfer, $500 off this month only.

For many mid-age adults considering a facelift procedure, many are now opting for fat grafting facelift procedure. Dr. Roy David a San Diego facial plastic surgeon says “many patients are opting for fat transfer and liquid facelift procedure instead, due to the non-invasiveness of the procedures and the excellent results”.

The facial fat grafting procedure involves removing a small amount of fat from the mid-section region, purifying it and injecting it into the sagging, sunken-in areas of the face. The fat is used to fill in cheeks, jawline, eye area and other facial areas where needed. Dr. David says, “as we age we lose volume in the face, which leads to sagging, deflated skin and concave sunken areas around the eyes. Fat transfer offers a more lasting solution to synthetic fillers and he believes that injecting ones fat enhances the skin and facial contours by increasing blood supply and overall skin health”.

Fat grafting is performed using a micro-cannulas. This makes the procedure very safe, as well as artistic and nuanced; the surgeon is able to sculpt the face in a natural way by gradually adding volume if diffuse increments. This is a much different approach from most synthetic fillers- which are often placed in discrete aliquots.

Dr. David also recommends for anyone that is having a mini-facelift or full facelift that they should consider having fat grafting done at same time. Skin tightening and lifting sagging skin and soft tissue does not produce the best and most natural results. It is important to simultaneously correct areas of hollowness and fat loss so that the lifted skin appears well supported and obtains a youthful contour.

Dr. David recommends the fat transfer facelift for those that have thin aging faces. It is not designed for an overweight face that already has excessive fatty tissue. The procedure takes about 1 ½ hours and is done at Dr. David’s private surgical center. The typical downtime is about one week in comparison to a normal facelift where the downtime is about 4 weeks.

Dr. David says, “fat grafting has come a long way in the past five years, the procedure is long lasting and the results are excellent. At first there were doubts whether the fat cells would survive once transplanted but by adding tiny drops of fat ensures that the fat cells receive the blood supply they need to live. The end result is a much longer lasting result then what you get with facial fillers to the face”.

San Diego facial plastic surgeon Dr. Roy David is a member of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and specializes in plastic surgery exclusively of the Face, Nose, Eyes, Neck, and Scalp. He has been in practice in San Diego for over ten years, helping thousands of patients to achieve their goals.

Dr. David is double-board certified by the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and theAmerican Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery, and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. David is one of a select group of plastic surgeons to complete a prestigious Fellowship in Facial Plastic Surgery under the auspices of the AAFPRS.